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Comment by rraghur | Hacker News Reader

Wasn't there a mexican tribe where they run marathons all the time? IIRC, a woman from the tribe participated and won an ultra marathon hands down (and wearing slippers made of tyres or something like that)

Found it - https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/05/24/inenglish/1495618559_31...

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The same tribe detailed in the book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall that was very popular a few years ago.

The book that led to the runner's fracture in my left foot. Note to future readers who tend to overdo things: we may be born to run, but not on concrete.

I came to this conclusion after trying to run in Vivo Barefoot shoes on tarmac (thankfully without the extra prompt of an injury). The technique he describes - avoiding heel strike and running on the balls of your feet to allow your Achilles tendon / calf to provide spring - is a good one, but it's just as effective in cushioned running shoes. I do wish running shoes had wider toe boxes like the Vivo ones though.

That's where Altra's come in. Wide toe box, zero drop, but cushioned.

Thanks, will take a look.

Check out the Lems Primal, or maybe the offerings from Xero shoes.

From my personal opinions, people getting fractures from running barefoot likely need to change diet and running gait even more then they thought. I've personally adopted bone broth as a daily staple to my diet and I credit it with feeling fully recovered after my first 24hr race within 2 days.

I tried to listen to the book and got bored to death.

These are descendants from a chaste (or chastes) specially dedicated to carry messages across long distances in the mezo-american empires, namely the Inca.

what a blow to "modernity"..

David Epstein kind of makes this point in The Sports Gene. We think modern training and diets make us better athletes then our ancestors, but really much of the progress on world record times have come from better tracks and shoes.

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